Book 1: The Planet
Part 2
5.30 HPN Day1 PT (hours past noon/planet time) AC 4061
A loud hiss broke the calm of dusk, followed by a resounding clang as the heavy shuttle pod door swung open. With a grunt Trowa heaved himself up through the hatch and clambered onto the open door. The great dusty cloud was just settling in a ring around the impact site. He took a deep breath and held it for several seconds, trying to fully absorb his surroundings. With the tawny daylight fading in the west he surveyed the landscape, nothing but wind-carved orange dunes spread in all directions, descending rapidly into deep purple shadows.
'So this is where we came from.'
The air tasted dry on his tongue, though the day's heat was slowly seeping up into the atmosphere. Not a speck of life moved in the twilight.
'How . . . odd. I knew it was barren, but I never realized Earth would feel so . . . dead.'
Shaking himself from reverie, the lanky man leapt back down into his half- buried craft. Briefly checking to see that nothing had been damaged in the landing, he slid toward the communications equipment. He fell backwards into the pilot's chair, working easily inside the tilted capsule. Tinkering with a bank of switches and knobs only earned him a standard "Signal Blocked" screen, but this was enough to reassure him that the equipment was functioning properly.
With a little levering and a few unusual footholds Trowa was once again outside in the twilight. He leapt easily to the ground and crouched there, sifting his fingers through the warm sand.
'It's hard to believe this planet was once overrun with life. How sad. Billions of natural species reduced to this dust, all because of us.'
He sighed as he stood, deep green eyes dropping shut. His gentle voice hummed through the air, a sound long-absent from the wasteland.
"Forgive us, Mother. We were young and foolish, but I will find a way to rebuild what my ancestors destroyed."
He watched quietly as darkness stole over the dunes.
5.30 HPN Day1 PT (hours past noon/planet time) AC 4061
A loud hiss broke the calm of dusk, followed by a resounding clang as the heavy shuttle pod door swung open. With a grunt Trowa heaved himself up through the hatch and clambered onto the open door. The great dusty cloud was just settling in a ring around the impact site. He took a deep breath and held it for several seconds, trying to fully absorb his surroundings. With the tawny daylight fading in the west he surveyed the landscape, nothing but wind-carved orange dunes spread in all directions, descending rapidly into deep purple shadows.
'So this is where we came from.'
The air tasted dry on his tongue, though the day's heat was slowly seeping up into the atmosphere. Not a speck of life moved in the twilight.
'How . . . odd. I knew it was barren, but I never realized Earth would feel so . . . dead.'
Shaking himself from reverie, the lanky man leapt back down into his half- buried craft. Briefly checking to see that nothing had been damaged in the landing, he slid toward the communications equipment. He fell backwards into the pilot's chair, working easily inside the tilted capsule. Tinkering with a bank of switches and knobs only earned him a standard "Signal Blocked" screen, but this was enough to reassure him that the equipment was functioning properly.
With a little levering and a few unusual footholds Trowa was once again outside in the twilight. He leapt easily to the ground and crouched there, sifting his fingers through the warm sand.
'It's hard to believe this planet was once overrun with life. How sad. Billions of natural species reduced to this dust, all because of us.'
He sighed as he stood, deep green eyes dropping shut. His gentle voice hummed through the air, a sound long-absent from the wasteland.
"Forgive us, Mother. We were young and foolish, but I will find a way to rebuild what my ancestors destroyed."
He watched quietly as darkness stole over the dunes.